Charles Etoroma

Each year young, driven entrepreneurial students compete in the NC State Lulu eGames. Held each spring, the event serves as an opportunity for students considering entrepreneurship to test the viability of their innovative ideas in a competition format.    The eGames had five categories this year, including the typical New Venture, Design and Prototype and Arts Feasibility Study, as well as two new additions, The Daugherty Endowment and B Corp Champions.    With the competition as close as ever this year, I wanted to highlight a few of the winners and ambitious startup ideas ready to make a difference in the...

Innovate Raleigh has always had one defining mission: Make the Triangle one of the top five centers for innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.    That mission faces few challenges greater than the low level of STEM programming being integrated into K-12 curricula and a lack of diversity in the tech community, says executive director Jenny Hwa.    Though reversing the latter has become a focus locally, nationally and globally, improvement has been slow. Underrepresented minorities only account for 10% of the workforce in engineering and science disciplines while making up nearly a quarter of the population of 21 and...

For short men, finding clothes that fit is more difficult than it should be.    At 5’6 and 5’8 respectively, recent NC State graduate Steven Mazur and his friend Eric Huang know the struggle firsthand and it’s what inspired the two young entrepreneurs to launch a new fashion brand targeted to men like themselves.    Called Ash & Anvil, the business stems from the simple belief that every guy, no matter his size, deserves the same shopping experience.  Mazur’s roots as an entrepreneur come from the Triangle’s startup ecosystem. As a freshman engineering major at NC State University, he founded a leadership development organization called Triangle...

New South Manufactory opened its doors on February 11 with one goal in mind, to build a community where emerging fashion designers can grow successful businesses.    Though textile manufacturing may be a smaller industry in North Carolina than in the past, there are a growing number of designers hoping to create new products. And yet, there hasn’t been a facility available for them to make patterns and samples and collaborate with other designers.    Founder David Brown, who also owns outdoor apparel and adventure startup Mts to Sea, is filling this gap with a cut-and-sew facility that operates kind of...

The international nonprofit known as TED has penetrated almost every region and most industries in the years since it began inspiring local people to share ideas about technology, entertainment and design in their towns. “TED Talks” can now be heard on national radio shows and easily watched online. They’ve helped to launch the ideas, talents and careers of tens of thousands of people around the world.  Local innovators, performers, artists and speakers took the TEDx stage in Raleigh in 2011, 2012 and 2013, and now, after a three-year hiatus, they’ll get the chance again. TEDxRaleigh is back and poised to...